If I’m completely honest, I’ve wanted to photograph these gorgeous girls for a long time! My chance came when their mom Karin signed them up for a Dear Santa session. On a Sunday evening with a beautiful sunset, we met at Bear Creek Park.

I had never been to this particularly sprawling park, but it was a ton of fun. There were areas dedicated to basketball, baseball, and sand volleyball. Plenty of room to run and play. And there was even a canal cutting through the park. We chose a spot in front of it and set up our milk and cookies.

Since this was my last Dear Santa session of such a wonderful season, I wanted to something special.. So I bought special cookies. I of course left the choice up to the girls, but they immediately chose the sparkly Christmas tree cookies. Sparkle sugar for sparkle smiles! It was a perfect match.

The girls were in adorable matching pajamas in a classic snuggly red plaid cloth. That’s part of why I love Christmas – the classic traditional items that can bring such comfort. Also a reason I’ve really loved doing all these Dear Santa sessions: kids love the Christmas traditions as much as I still do. And nothing brings out the smile and joy during a photo session like milk and cookies. Man, is there a kid alive who won’t smile while scarfing milk and cookies? I didn’t meet one this season, I’ll tell you that. Every time, it worked like a charm.

It can sometimes be tricky to find poses for each session that are interesting and fresh – but these girls were total naturals. I am totally serious; I did hardly any of the work here. Isn’t that such a great thing about littles, especially girls? Some of them just LOVE being in front of the camera, and it totally shows. Of course credit also goes to mom Karin, who had her girl army giggling and jumping from one adorable pose to the next. The end of the session even faded into a bit of a dance-athon, complete with some whippin’ and some nae nae-in’. As the kids do these days.

Karin, Addiesyn, Rhaegan, and Emmersen: I had such a blast with all of y’all it’s crazy! I can’t wait for our next photo/hangout session. You guys are the best!